


Vaporware

by Rainbowfootsteps



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Alternate Universe - Cyberpunk, Bad Friend Trio, Bad Touch Trio, Computers, Cyberpunk, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Post-Apocalypse, kind of what i imagine a techno-acid trip would be like tbh
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-13
Updated: 2016-03-13
Packaged: 2018-05-26 10:48:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,505
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6235690
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rainbowfootsteps/pseuds/Rainbowfootsteps
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The world is in ruins - a zombie apocalypse has wiped out 99.9% of humanity, leaving undead immortal monsters to roam the earth and devour every living thing. Well, that's what Gilbert and the other citizens of Osaka are told, living inside massive walls like generations before them to keep out this unseen threat. But when the power starts going out more and more frequently throughout the city, Gilbert's suspicion leads him and his friends into the limelight of the most powerful clan in their all-too-small world.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Vaporware

**Author's Note:**

> Vaporware means technology lost in time - products advertised but never released to the public. (this is where the word vaporwave comes from! This fic was based off some vaporwave I listened to. Yes. I'm a massive nerd. (it's also based off The City Of Ember, which is an epic movie that I highly recommend!))
> 
> Please note - while this story is based in post-apocalyptic Japan, Gilbert, Francis and Antonio are not Japanese. Some other characters aren't Japanese either!

Gilbert loved the night streets - it was always fever pitch on these vibrant roads. Bright neon signs flickered above and around him, filling the air with hazy light. Crackly music filled the air - the newest craze, jazz with heavy reverb. The streets were busy tonight; he had to push and shove to get to his destination. His bulky bag didn’t help, and eventually he had to take it off and hold it to his chest to stop the contents being smashed. He pushed through more gaudily dressed crowds, trying to locate the shop. There! He moved towards it and finally darted inside.

The bar Gilbert was in looked like a tornado made of electronics had swept through. Mismatched computer terminals from every era littered tables, and gleaming discs hung from nails on the walls. Wires spilled onto the floor and he had to carefully step over them to get to the counter. 

“Hey, Kiku.” Gilbert smiled at the short, bored man behind the counter cleaning cups. Meticulously cropped black hair and tired eyes made Kiku look a bit like a robot. Understandable, since half his face had been replaced by weathered steel and chrome. One brown eye and one glassy yellow eye glanced at him, and nodded at the back of the store. Gilbert tipped an imaginary hat and walked into the pub’s back room.

“Francis?” Gilbert called into the dark room. The smell of tobacco and incense was thick in his nostrils, giving him the familiar light headed sensation he got whenever he visited Francis. Wallpaper flaked from fading walls onto the tiled floor. In the corner of the mostly empty room, a figure sat in a chair slumped over a big, old computer on a foldout table. Gilbert walked to Francis’ sleeping figure and gave him a gentle shove.

“Get up, you idiot. Yao will kill you for sleeping on the job.” Gilbert shoved him again and Francis woke up with a jolt. His scraggly blond hair cast his gaunt face into shadow, making the fresh wounds on his cheek stand out. Gilbert decided not to mention them. 

“Shit…” Francis muttered, then looked at Gilbert.

“If I’m in this goddamn building any longer I’m going to die - please tell me you have some reckless idea for us to do tonight.”

“You know me so well. Come on, we need to get Antonio.”

-

Gilbert followed Francis into the back of the pub, deeper into it’s thin corridors thick with smoke. Up a ladder, past a room full of flickering computer screens - then they were back outside, on the roof. It was flat and grey, with a broken satellite dish perched on the side. In every direction buildings spread, most partly damaged, all lit up by neon signs and lanterns. After that was darkness, then on the horizon, the Wall.

“What’s in the bag?” Francis asked, gesturing to Gilbert’s satchel. He grinned.

“Not sake, if that’s what you’re thinking. My newest computer - this baby’s dual-core.” He patted the bag proudly. 

“Whatever, you know I don’t understand your bithead speak. Let’s go get Antonio.” Francis said, and started to jog towards the side of the roof. The next building’s roof was barely a metre away and they easily made the jump. Then they inched up the next building’s water pipe. Gilbert looked down and gritted his teeth as vertigo flooded him. Cold wind bit his skin through his thin jacket as he hauled himself onto the building’s roof, sending a shiver down his spine. 

On this building’s roof, a two-metre-high pole stood out on the side, seemingly for a flag, although now it had another use. A thick wire was wrapped around it and was strung out over the road, connected to a window on a building on the other side. Gilbert picked up a crumbled piece of granite from the ground and threw it at the window. It bounced off with a satisfying chink. The window was pulled open and a brown-haired head poked out.

“How’s it going, dickheads?” Antonio called out over the chasm. Gilbert responded with the finger as Antonio started to scramble out onto the wire, holding on using his hands and crossed knees. He’d done the same thing a million times before yet Gilbert always got a knot in his gut watching Antonio inch over the road below, swaying in the wind. He dropped onto the roof gracefully, bare feet hitting the concrete with a slap.

“What’re we doing tonight?” Antonio asked with a mischievous smile. Gilbert unzipped his satchel and showed Francis and Antonio the electronics inside.

“Guess who hacked into the Chao surveillance cameras!”

-

Gilbert’s home could barely be considered a house. It was more of a dilapidated underground bunker, filled with electronic junk and food cans. Despite the massive amount of stuff in it, the house was relatively organised and tidy. It consisted of only three rooms - two bedrooms and one all-purpose area. The trio were in Gilbert’s room, a room barely big enough for the three of them. Gilbert was hunched over his computer on a battered swivel chair. Francis sat on the table the computer was on, kicking his legs back and forth underneath.

“Since my Athlon 64 broke just after I finished hacking into the system, I never got to use my little USB. But I was checking out that scraper the other day, you know, that one on it’s side, and I hit the jackpot - this baby has a fully functional USB port.” Gilbert said proudly, gesturing at his computer. It was square and grey, and some of the screen’s pixels were dead. Francis and Antonio glanced at each other.

“Right. You do that, I’ll get a beer from that piece of shit you call a fridge.” Antonio said. He had to pick his path across the room to not step on anything.

“You guys clearly aren’t understanding the concept of this.” Gilbert grumbled as he typed in commands. He pulled out a battered USB drive from his pocket and plugged it into the side of the computer.

_Open 2048-SPD_

With a slow whirr the computer screen changed from green text to a grainy image. It was an alleyway, the frame lazily changing every second.

“We can see everything.” He said, drawing out the last word as much as he could. Francis twirled a lock of hair lazily, thinking for a moment. An evil glint appeared in his eye.

“Bring up Yao’s office.”

-

“Ew, oh my god, is that Kiyomi?”

“Shit, it is!”

“I put food on that table yesterday, that’s disgusting!” 

“Gilbert, turn it off, your brother’s home.” Antonio said, gesturing towards the sounds coming from the door of the bunker. Gilbert quickly pulled out the USB and shut down the computer. Francis made a rude gesture and Gilbert went red as he tried to hold in a laughing snort.

“Gilbert, I’m home!” Ludwig’s voice echoed through the bunker. 

“Hey. We drank most of the beer but I think there’s some left.” Gilbert called back as Ludwig’s face came into view in the doorway.

“Francis. Antonio.” Ludwig nodded to each in turn.

“I’m going to-” Ludwig’s sentence broke off as the lights above them flickered. After a few seconds they stopped flickering and shone again as brightly as before.

“That was weird. Know anything about it, brother of mine?” Gilbert asked. Ludwig rolled his eyes and shook his head.

“I work in security at the generators, not maintenance. As I was saying, I’m going to go see if I can buy us some actual food instead of that trash you always bring home.” Ludwig said with a look of disapproval on his face.

“Gilbert, have you been naughty again?” Antonio crooned with a teasing grin. Gilbert pulled a face.

“I need to go too. Yao’ll wonder where I am.” Francis said, jumping off the table and cracking a CD under his foot.

“Sorry. See you later, Gil.” Gilbert saluted and watched his brother and friend leave the room.

“Just you and me, huh?” Antonio said, wiggling his eyebrows. Gilbert pulled the same face as before.

“Don’t let Romano hear you say that. Don’t you two have a date in the morning?” He replied. The colour drained from Antonio’s face.

“Fuck, I forgot! Thanks, Gilbert. I’ve gotta go!” He punched Gilbert’s arm and jogged out of the room. The slam of the door behind him made a pile of cans topple over with a crash. Gilbert sat silently for a moment, then leaned back in his chair, exhaling deeply. Then he hunched over the computer again, plugging the USB back in. He flicked through cameras until he found the ones in the Chao generator complex. Nothing unusual. He sighed and shut down the computer again. He had an hour to kill until it was ‘morning’ - as if day could really exist when the sun was as good as nonexistant. But morning it would be, and then those Chao military dogs would be roaming the streets. So what would he do with his free time?

**Author's Note:**

> i have no fucking clue how hacking works, so take my techno-speak with a pinch of salt. (maybe i get brownie points for the Athlon 64 being a real 2005 computer?)
> 
> Hope you enjoyed the first chapter!


End file.
